Since returning from holidays, the heating unit that services the 100 wing and parts of the 200 wing hallways/classrooms of our school, has not been operational.

Our district maintenance team has been working to determine the cause of the malfunction and to repair the unit as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the unit is not yet operational and several areas of the school are cold enough to make it unreasonable to expect students and staff to continue to work in all parts of the building.

In consultation with our Superintendent and District Maintenance Department, a decision was made late this afternoon to close the school tomorrow (Friday). It is our goal to return on Monday. However, if there is a change in plan – parents will be advised by email. We will also provide an update by 4:00 pm. tomorrow.

Mt Sentinel School was evacuated today as a result of a fan fire in our rooftop HVAC system (heating and cooling system.) Students were sent home early – before the cause of the smoke was discovered and after the fire alarm was activated. Following an “all clear” by the fire department and our school district maintenance department, the building was reopened. Students out on a field trip today and a few who chose to remain close to the school arrived home on their regular bus runs.

The school will return to regular hours on Monday. We can anticipate interruption with our heating and cooling system for most of next week; students should plan on wearing longer sleeves or sweaters as our heating system will not be operational in some parts of the building. Please rest assured that all books, supplies and personal items left behind in classrooms when the fire alarm was activated will remain secured until students arrive back to collect things on Monday morning.

Thank you parents for your patience and support during this time. We realize that many of you were not aware your children would be arriving early. Unfortunately our school computer network was also down at the same time preventing us from making contact before students were beginning to board buses. Home communication during an emergency will be an area of focus for our school safety committee in the coming weeks.

We learn and grow from each experience! We originally planned on a fire drill practice next week; our new plan will be to debrief with students and staff on how we did in a real potential fire related emergency.